Custom-built tricycle stolen from 94-year-old Cleveland man’s home

CLEVELAND (WJW) – Relatives of a 94-year-old man, whose custom-built tricycle was stolen on Sunday, are asking Clevelanders to help them find the three-wheeler that has great sentimental value. 

The family says Dr. Nicholas LaGattuta moved into his son and daughter-in-law’s home in Cleveland’s Battery Park neighborhood, after his beloved wife Marianne passed away in 2021 at the age of 88.

Nicholas had always wanted a two-seat tricycle to go on excursions with his wife. When the family bought a custom-built trike, it had special meaning for Dr. LaGattuta, as he tried to embrace his new life without his wife.

“My dad and I go out almost every day in the summertime and we put our dog in the back and we drive around Edgewater Park and he loves it. It’s his favorite part of the day. Sometimes we go out twice a day,” said his son, Jack LaGattuta.

The family discovered on Sunday that a thief took the tricycle from their back yard.

Video from their security cameras showed a man, with a distinctive gait and wearing a hooded sweatshirt, mask and gloves, prowling around their back yard off of Detroit Avenue.

After removing the cover from the trike, he slowly pedaled away.

Jack LaGattuta had to break the bad news to his father.

“Disgust, followed by anger, followed by frustration,” he said.

The tricycle that was stolen is not a child’s toy. The family spent up to $5,000 purchasing the trike and equipping it so that Dr. LaGattuta can travel around the neighborhood.

The Worksman side-by-side team adult tricycle has an electric assist motor.

Jack LaGattuta points out that the thief is going to have trouble using the trike or trying to sell it.

“If they ride it, they’re going to get caught because it’s the only one of its kind in Northeast Ohio and if they go to try to sell it, they’re going to get caught because it’s such a unique bike that it’ll jump out at anybody,” he said.

The family is hoping the suspect will return the tricycle undamaged once he realizes what it means to the 94-year-old.

“Do the right thing, bring it back. We’re not looking to prosecute, just bring it back and you know, we’ll pray for you,” his son said.  

But if the suspect shown in the surveillance video does not have a change of heart, they are asking anyone with information about the crime to call Cleveland Police Second District detectives.